The
clan Gillean of the Macleans is a clan included by Mr Skene under the head of Moray. The
origin of the clan has been much disputed; according to Buchanan and other authorities it
is of Norman or Italian origin, descended from the Fitzgeralds of Ireland. "Speed and
other English historians derive the genealogy of the Fitzgeralds from Seignior Giralde, a
principal officer under William the Conqueror". Their progenitor, however, according
to Celtic tradition, was one Gillean or Gill-eoin, a name signifying the young man, or the
servant or follower of John, who lived so early as the beginning of the 5th century. He
was called Gillean-na-Tuardhe, i.e. Gillean with the axe, from the dexterous manner in
which he wielded that weapoin in battle, and his descendants bear a battle-axe in their
crest. According to a history of the clan Maclean published in 1838 by "a
Sennachie", the clan is traced up to Fergus I of Scotland, and from him back to an
Aonghus Turmhi Teamhrach, "an ancient monarch of Ireland". As to which of these
account of the origin of the clan is correct, we shall no pretend to decide. The clan can
have no reason to be ashamed of either.

The Macleans have been located in Mull since the 14th century. According to Mr Skene, they
appear originally to have belonged to Moray. He says, - "The two oldest genealogyies
of the Macleans, of which one is the production of the Beatons, who were hereditary
sennachies of the family, concur in deriving the clan Gille-eon from the same race from
whom the clans belonging to the great Moray tribe are brought by the MS of 1450. Of this
clan the oldest seat seems to have been the district of Lorn, as they first appear in
subjection to the Lords of the Lorn; and their situation being thus between the Camerons
and Macnachtans, who were undisputed branches of the Moray tribe, there can be little
doubt that the Macleans belonged to that tribe also. As their oldest seat was thus in
Argyle, while they are unquestionably a part of the tribe of Moray, we may infer that they
were one of those clans transplanted from North Moray by Malcolm IV, and it is not
unlikely that Glen Urquhart was their original residence, as that district is said to have
been in the possession of the Macleans when the Bissets came in".

The first of the name on record, Gillean, lived in the reign of Alexander III (1249-1286),
and fought against the Norsemen at the battle of Largs. In the Ragman's Roll we find
Gilliemore Macilean described as del Counte de Perth, among those who swore fealty to
Edward I in 1296. As the county of Perth at that period included Lorn, it is probable that
he was the son of the above Gillean. In the reign of Robert the Bruce mention is made of
three brothers, John, NIgel, and Dofuall, termed Macgillean of filii Gilean, who appear to
have been sons of Gilliemore, for we find John afterwards designated Macgilliemore. The
latter fought under Bruce at Bannockburn. A dispute having arisen with the Lord of Lorn,
the brothers left him and took refuge in the Isles. Between them and the Mackinnons, upon
whose lands they appear to have encroached, a bitter feud took place, which led to a most
daring act on the part of the chief of the Macleans. When following, with the chief of the
Mackinnons, the galley of the Lord of the Isles, he attacked the former and slew him, and
immediately after, afraid of his vengeance, he seized the Macdonald himself, and carried
him prisoner to Icolmkill, where Maclena detained him until he agreed to vow friendship to
the Macleans, "upon certain stones where men were used to make solemn vows in those
superstitious times", and granted them the lands in Mull which they have ever since
possessed. John Gilliemore, suranmed Dhu from his dark complexion, appears to have settled
in Mull about the year 1330. He died in the reign of Robert II, leaving two sons, Lachlan
Lubanach, ancestor of the Macleans of Dowart, and Eachann or Hector Reganach, of the
Macleans of Lochbuy.

Lachlan, the elder son, married in 1366, Margaret, daughter of John I, Lord of the Isles,
by his wife, the princess Margaret Stewart, and had a son Hector, which became a favourite
name among the Macleans, as Kenneth was among the Mackenzies, Evan among the Camersons,
and Hugh among the Mackays. Both Lachlan and his son, Hector, received extensive grants of
land from John, the father-in-law of the former, and his successor, Donald. altogether,
their possessions consisted of the isles of Mull, Tiree, and Coll, with Morvern on the
mainland, Kingerloach and Ardgour; and the clan Gillean became one of the most important
and powerful of the vassal tribes of the Lord of the Isles.

Lachlan's son, Hector, called Eachann Ruadh nan Cath, that is, Red Hector of the Battles,
commanded as lieutenant-general under his uncle, Donald, at the battle of Harlaw in 1411,
when he and Sir Alexander Irving of Drum, seeking out each other by their amorial
bearings, encountered hand to hand and slew each other; in commemoration of which
circumstance, we are told, the Dowart and Drum families were long accustomed to exchange
swords. Red Hector of the Battles married a daughter of the Earl of Douglas. His eldest
son was taken prisoner at the battle of Harlaw, and detained in captivity a long time by
the Earl of Mar. His brother John, at the head of the Macleans, was in the expedition of
Donald Balloch, cousin of the Lord of the Isles, in 1431, when the Islesmen ravaged
Lochaber, and were encountered at Inverlochy, near Fort William, by the royal forces under
the Earls of Caithness and Mar, whom they defeated. In the dissensions which arose between
John, the last Lord of the Isles, and his turbulent son, Angus, who, with the island
chiefs descended from the original family, complained that his father had made improvident
grants of lands to the Macleans and other tribes, Hector Maclean, chief of the clan, and
great-grandson of Red Hector of the Battles, took part with the former, and commanded his
fleet at the battle of Bloody Bay in 1480, where he was taken prisoner. This Hector was
chief of his tribe at the date of the forfeiture of the ordship of the Isles in 1493, when
the clan Gillean, or ClanLean as it came to be called, was divided into four independent
branches, viz, the Macleans of Dowart, the Macleans of Lochbuy, the Macleans of Coll, and
the Macleans of Ardgour. Lachlan Maclean was chief of Dowart in 1502, and he and his
kinsman, Maclean of Lochbuy, were among the leading men of the Western Isles whom that
energetic monarch, James IV, entered into correspondence with, for the purpose of breaking
up the confederacy of the Islanders. Nevertheless, on the breaking out of the insurrection
under Donald Dubh, in 1503, they were both implicated in it. Lachlan Maclean was forfeited
with Cameron of Lochiel, while Maclean of Lochbuy and several others were summoned before
parliament, to answer for their treasonable support given to the rebels. In 1505 Maclean
of Dowart abandoned the cause of Donald Dubh and submitted to the government; his example
was followed by Maclean of Lochbuy and other chiefs; and this had the effect, soon after,
of putting an end to the rebellion.

Lachlan Maclean of Dowart was killed at Flodden. His successor, of the same name, was one
of the principle supporters of Sir Donald Macdonald of Lochalsh, when, in November 1513,
he brought forward his claims to the lordship of the Isles. In 1523 a feud of a most
implacable character broke out between the Macleans and the Campbells, arising out of an
occurrence connected with the "lady's rock", mentioned in our account of the Campbells. In 1529, however, the Macleans joined the Clandonald of Isla against the Earl
of Argyll, and ravaged with fire and sword the lands of Roseneath, Craignish, and others
belonging to the Campbells, killing many of the inhabitants. The Campbells, on their part,
retaliated by laying waste great portion of the isles of Mull and Tiree and the lands of
Morvern, belonging to the Macleans. In May 1530, Mclean of Dowart and Alexander of Isla
made their personal submission to the sovereign at Stirling, and, with the other rebel
island chiefs who followed their example, were pardoned, upon giving security for their
after obedience.

In 1545, Maclean of Dowart acted a very prominent part in the intrigues with England, in
furtherance of the project of Henry VIII, to force the Scottish nation to consent to a
marriage between Prince Edward and the young Queen Mary. He and Maclean of Lochbuy were
among the barons of the Isles who accompanied Donald Dubh to Ireland, and at the command
of the Earl of Lennox, claiming to be regent of Scotland, swore allegiance to the king of
England.

The subsequent clan history consists chiefly of a record of feuds in which the Dowart
Macleans were engaged with the Macleans of Coll, and the Macdonalds of Kintyre. The
dispute with the former arose from Dowart, who was generally recognised as the head of the
ClanLean, insisting on being followed as chief by Maclean of Coll, and the latter, who
held his lands direct from the crown, declining to acknowledge him as such, on the ground
that being a free baron, he owed no service but to his sovereign as his feudal superior.
In consequence of this refusal, Dowart, in the year 1561, caused Coll's lands to be
ravaged, and his tenants to be imprisoned. With some difficulty, and after the lapse of
several years, Coll succeeded in bringing his case before the privy council, who order
Dowart to make reparation to him for the injury done to his property and tenants, and
likewise to refrain from molesting him in future. But on a renewal of the feud some years
after, Macleans of Coll were expelled from that island by the young laird of Dowart.

The quarrel between the Macleans and the Macdonalds of Isla and Kintyre was, at the
outset, merely a dispute as to the right of occupancy of the crown lands called the Rhinns
of Isla, but it soon involved these tribes in a long and bloody feud, and eventually led
to the destruction nearly of them both. The Macleans, who were in possession, claimed to
hold the lands in dispute as tenants of the crown, but the privy council decided that
Macdonald of Isla was really the crown tenant. Lachlan Maclean of Dowart, called Lachlan
Mor, was chief of the Macleans in 1678. Under him the feud with the Macdonalds assumed a
most sanguinary and relentless character.

The mutual ravages committed by the hostile clans, in which the kindred and vassal tribes
on both sides were involved, and the effects of which were felt throughout the whole of
the Hebrides, attracted, in 1589, the serious attention of the king and council, and for
the purpose of putting an end to them, the rival chiefs, with Macdonald of Sleat, on
receiving remission, under the privy seal, for all the crimes committed by them, were
induced to proceed to Edinburgh. On their arrival, they were committed prisoners to the
castle, and, after some time, Maclean and Angus Macdonald were brought to trial, in spite
of the remissions granted to them; one of the principal charges against them being their
treasonable hiring of Spanish and English soldiers to fight in their private quarrels.
Both chiefs submitted themselves to the king's mercy, and placed their lives and lands at
his disposal. On paymenteach of a small fine they were allowed to return to the Isles,
Macdonald of Sleat being released at the same time. Besdides certain conditions being
imposed upon them, they were taken bound to return to their confinement in the castle of
Edinburgh, whenever they should be summoned, on twenty days warning. Not fulfilling the
conditions, they were, on 14th July 1593, cited to appear before the privy council, and as
they dispobeyed the summons, both Lachlan Mor and Angus Macdonald were, in 1594, forfeited
by parliament.

At the battle of Glenlivat, in that year, fought between the Catholic Earls of Huntly,
Angusm and Errol, on the one side, and the king's forces, under the Earl of Argyll, on the
other, Lachlan Mor, at the head of the Macleans, particularly distinguished himself.
Argyll lost the battle, but, says Mr Gregory, "the conduct of Lachlan Maclean of
Dowart, who was one of Argyll's officers, in this action, would, if imitated by the other
leaders, have converted the defeat into a victory".

In 1596 Lachlan Mor repaired to court, and on making his submission to the king, the act
of forfeiture was removed. He also received from the crown a lease of the Rhinns of Isla,
so long in dispute between him and Macdonald of Dunyveg. While thus at the head of favour,
however, his unjust and oppressive conduct to the family of the Macleans of Coll, whose
castle and island he had seized some years before, on the death of Hector Maclean,
proprietor thereof, was brought before the privy council by Lachlan Mclean, then of Coll,
Hector's son, and the same year he was ordered to deliver up not only the castle of Coll,
but all his own castles and stronholds, to the lieutenant of the Isles, on twentry-four
hours warning, also, to restore to Coll, within thirty days, all the lands of which he had
deprived him, under a penalty of 10,000 marks. In 1598, Lachlan Mor, with the view of
expelling the Macdonalds from Isla, levied his vassals and proceeded to that island, and
after an ineffectual attempt at an adjustment of their differences, was encountered, on
5th August, at the head of Lochgreinord, by Sir James Macdonald, son of Angus, at the head
of his clan, when the Macleans were defeated, and their chief killed, with 80 of his
principal men and 200 common soldiers. Lachlan Barrach Maclean, a son of Sir Lachlan, was
dangerously wounded, but escaped.

Hector Maclean, the son and successor of Sir Lachlan, at the head of a numerous force,
afterwards invaded Isla, and attacked and deafeated the Macdonalds at a place called Bern
Bige, and then ravaged the whole island. In the conditions imposed upon the chiefs for the
pacification of the Isles in 1616, we find that Maclean of Dowart was not to use in his
house more than four tun of wine, and Coll and Lochbuy one tun each.

Sir Lachlan Maclean of Morvern, a younger brother of Hector Maclean of Dowart, was in 1631
created a baronet of Nova Scotia by Charles I, and on the death of his elder brother he
succeeded to the estate of Dowart. In the civil wars the Macleans took arm under Montrose,
and fought valiantly for the royal cause. At the battle of Inverlochy, 2d February 1645,
Sir Lachlan commanded his clan. He engaged in the subsequent battles of the royalist
general. Sir Hector Maclean, his son, with 800 of his followers, was at the battle of
Inverkeithing, 20th July 1651, when the royalists were opposed to the troops of Oliver
Cromwell. On this occasion an instance of devoted attachment to the chief was shown on the
part of the Macleans. In the heat of the battle, Sir Hector was covered from the enemy's
attacks by seven brothers of his clan, all whom successively sacrificed their lives in his
defence. Each brother, as he fell, exclaimed, "Fear eile air son Eachainn",
'Another for Eachann', or Hector, and a fresh one stepping in, answered "Bas air son
Eachainn", 'Death for Eachann'. The former phrase, says General Stewart, has
continued ever since to be a proverb or watchword, when a man encounters any sudden danger
that requires instant succour. Sir Hector, however, was left among the slain, with about
500 of his followers.

The Dowart estates had become deeply involved in debt, and the Marquis of Argyll, by
purchasing them up, had acquired a claim against the lands of Maclean, which ultimately
led to the greater portion of them becoming the property of that accumulating family. In
1704, after the execution of the marquis, payment was insisted upon by his son, the earl.
The tutor of Maclean, the chief, his nephew, being a minor, evaded the demand for a
considerable time, and at length showed a disposition to resist it by force. Argyll had
recourse to legal proceedings, and supported by a body of 2,000 Campbells, he crossed into
Mull, where he took possession of the castle of Dowart, and placed a garrison in it. The
Macleans, however, refused to pay their rents to the earl, and in consequence he prepared
for a second invasion of Mull. To resist it, the Macdonalds came to the aid of the
Macleans, but Argyll's ships were driven back by a storm, when he applied to government,
and even went to London, to ask assistance from the king. Lord Macdonald and other friends
of the Macleans folled him, and laid a statement of the dispute before Charles, who, in
February 1676, remitted the matter to three lords of the Scottish privy council. No
decision,however, was come to by them, and Argyll was allowed to take possession of the
island of Mull withour resistance in 1680. At the battle of Killiecrankie, Sir John
Maclean, with his regiment, was placed on Dundee's right, and among the troops on his left
was a battalion under Sir Alexander Maclean. The Macleans were amongst the Highlanders
surprised and defeated at Cromdale in 1690. In the rebellion of 1715, the Macleans ranged
themselves under the standard of the Earl of Mar, and were present at the battle of
Sheriffmuir. For his share in the insurrection Sir John Maclean, the chief, was forfeited,
but the estates were afterwards restored to the family. On the breaking out of the
rebellion of 1745 Sir John's son, Sir Hector Maclean, the fifth baronet, was apprehended,
with his servant, at Edinburgh, and conveyed to London. He was set at liberty in June
1747. At Culloden, however, 500 of his clan fought for Prince Charles, under Maclean of
Drimnin, who was slain while leading them on. Sir Hector died, unmarried, at Paris, in
1750, when the title devolved upon his third cousin, the remainder being to heirs male
whatsoever. This third cousin, Sir Allan Maclean, was great-grandson of Donald Maclean of
Brolas, eldest son, by his second marriage, of Hector Maclean of Dowart, the father of the
first banonet. Sir Allan married Anne, daughter of Hector Maclean of Coll, and had three
daughters, the eldest of whom, Maria, became the wife of Maclean of Kinlochaline, and the
second, Sibella, of Maclean of Inverscadell. In 1773, when Johnson and Boswell visited the
Hebrides, Sir Allan was chief of the clan. He resided at that time on Inchkenneth, one of
his smaller islands, in the district of Mull, where he entertained his visitors very
hospitably. From the following anecdote told by Boswell, it would appear that the feeling
of devotion to the chief had survived the abolition act of 1747. "The Macinnises are
said to be a branch of the clan of Maclean. Sir Allam had been told that one of the name
had refused to send him some rum, at which the knight was in great indignation. 'You
rascal!', said he, 'don't you know that I can hang you, if I please? Refuse to send rum to
me, you rascal! Don't you know that if I order you to go and cut a man's throat, you are
to do it?' 'Yes, an't please your honour, and my own too, and hang myself too!' The poor
fellow denied that he had refused to send the rum. His making these professions was not
merely a pretence in prescence of his chief, for after he and I were out of Sir Allan's
hearing, he told me, 'Had he sent his dog for the rum, I would have given it: I would cut
my bones for him'. Sir Allan, by the way of upbraiding the fellow, said, 'I believe you
are a Campbell!".

Dying without make issue in 1783, Sir Allan was succeeded by his kinsman, Sir Hector, 7th
baronet; on whose death, Nov.2d, 1818, his brother, Lieutenant-general Sir Fitzroy
Jefferies Grafton Maclean of Morvern, and Donald Maclean of the chancery bar. Sir Charles,
9th baronet, married a daughter of the Hon and Rev Jacob Marsham, uncle of the Earl of
Romney, and has issue, a son, Fitzroy Donald, major 13th dragoons, and four daughters, one
of whom, Louisa, became the wife of Hon Ralph Pelham Neville, son of the Earl of
Abergavenny.

The first of the Lochbuy branch of the Macleans was Hector Reganach, brother of Lachlan
Lubanach above mentioned. He had a son named John, or Murchard, whose great-grandson, John
Og Maclean of Lochbuy, received from King James IV, several charters of the lands and
baronies which had been held by his progenitors. He was killed, with his two eldest sons,
in a family feud with the Macleans of Dowart. His only surviving son, Murdoch, was
obliged, in consequence of the same feud, to retire to Ireland, where he married a
daughter of the Earl of Antrim. By the mediation of his father-in-law, his differences
with Dowart were satisfactorily adjusted, and he returned to the isles, where he spent his
latter years in peace. The house of Lochbuy has always maintained that of the two
brothers, Lachlan Lubanach and Hector Reganach, the latter was the senior, and that,
consequently, the chiefship of the Macleans is vested in its head; "but this",
says Mr Gregory, "is a point on which there is no certain eveidence". The whole
clan, at different periods, have followed the head of both families to the field, and
fought under their command. The Lochbuy family now spells its name Maclaine.

The Coll branch of the Macleans, like that of Dowart, descended from Lachlan Lubanach,
said to have been grandfather of the fourth laird of Dowart and first laird of Coll, who
were brothers. John Maclean, surnamed Garbh, son of Lachlan of Dowart, obtained the isle
of Coll and the lands of Quinish in Mull from Alexander, Earl of Ross and Lord of the
Isles, and afterwards, on the forfeiture of Cameron, the lands of Loachiel. The latter
grant engendered, as we have seen, a deadly fud between the Camerons and the Macleans. At
one time the son and successor of John Garbh occupied Lochiel by force, but was killed in
a conflict with the Camerons at Corpach, in the reign of James III. His infant son would
also have been put to death, had the boy not been saved by the Macgillonies or
Macalonichs, a tribe of Lochaber that generally followed the clan Cameron. This youth,
subsequently known as John Abrach Maclean of Coll, was the representative of the family in
1493, and from him was adopted the patronymic appellation of Maclean Abrach, by which the
lairds of Coll were ever after distinguished.

The tradition concerning this heir of Coll is thus related by Dr Johnson, in his Tour to
the Hebrides: - "On the wall of old Coll Castle was, not long ago, a stone with an
inscription, importing, 'That if any man of the clan of Macalonich shall appear before the
castle, though he come at midnight with a man's head in his hand, he shall there find
safety and protection against all but the king". This is an old Highland treaty made
upon a memorable occasion. Maclean, the son of John Garbh, had obtained, it is said, from
James II, a grant of the lands of Lochiel. Forfeited estates were not in those days
quietly resigned: Maclean, therefore, went with an armed force to seize his new
possessions, and, I know not for what reason, took his wife with him. The Camerons rose in
defence of their chief, and a battle was fought at the head of Lochness, near the place
where Fort Augustus now stands, in which Lochiel obtained the victory, and Maclean, with
his followers, was defeated and destroyed. The lady fell into the hands of the conquerors,
and being pregnant, was placed in the custody of Macalonich, one of a tribe or family
branched from Cameron, with orders, if she brough a boy, to destroy him, if a girl, to
spare her. Macalonich's wife had a girl about the same time at which Lady M'Lean brought a
boy; and Macalonich, with more generosity to his captive than fidelity to his trust,
contrived that the children should be changed. Maclean in time recovered his original
patrimony, and in gratitide to his friend, made his castle a place of refuge to any of the
clan that should think himself in danger; and Maclean took upon himself and his posterity
the care of educating the heir of Macalonich. The power of protection subsists no longer;
but Maclean of Coll now educates the heir of Macalonich".

The account of the conversion of the simple islanders of Coll from Poery to Protestantism
is curious. The laird had imbibed the principles of the Reformation, but found his people
reluctant to abandon the religion of their fathers. To compel them to do so, he took his
station one Sunday in the path which led to the Roman Catholic church, and as his clansmen
approached he drove them back with his cane. They at once made their way to the Protestant
place of worship, and from this persuasive mode of conversion his vassals ever after
called it the religion of the gold-headed stick. Lachlan, the seventh proprietor of Coll,
went over to Holland with some of his own men, in the reigh of Charles II, and obtained
the command of a company in General Mackay's regiment, in the service of the Prince of
Orange. He afterwards returned to Scotland, and was drowned in the water of Lochy, in
Lochaber in 1687.

Colonel Hugh Maclean, London, the last laird of Coll, of that name, was the 15th in
regular descent from John Garbh, son of Lauchlan Lubanach.

The Ardgour branch of the Macleans, which held its lands directly from the Lord of the
Isles, is descended from Donald, another son of Lachlan, third laird of Dowart. The estate
of Ardgour, which is in Argyleshire, had previously belonged to a different tribe (the
Macmasters), but it was conferred upon Donald, either by Alexander, Earl of Ross, or by
his son and successor, John. In 1463, Ewen or Eugene, son of Donald, held the office of
seneschal of the household to the latter earl; and in 1493, Lachlan Macewen Maclean was
laird of Ardgour. Alexander Maclean, Esq, the present laird of Ardgour, is the 14th from
father to son.

During the 17th and 18th centuries the Macleans of Lochbuy, Coll, and Ardgour, more
fortunate than the Dowart branch of the clan, contrived to preserve their estates nearly
entire, although compelled by the Marquis of Argyll to renounce their holdings in capite
of the crown, and to become vassals of that nobleman. They continued zealous partizans of
the Stuarts, in whose cause they suffered severly.

From Lachlan Og Maclean, a younger son of Lacglan Mor of Dowart, sprung the family of
Torloisk in Mull.

Of the numerous flourishing cadets of the different branches, the principal were the
Macleans of Kinlichaline, Ardtornish, and Drimnin, descended from the family of Dowart; of
Tapul and Scallasdale, in the islandof Mull, from that of Lochbuy; of Isle of Muck, from
that of Coll; of of Borrera, in North Uist and Treshinish, from that of Ardgour. The
family of Borrera are represented by Donald Maclean, Esq, and General Archibald Maclean.
From the Isle of Muck and Treshinish Macleans is descended A.C. Maclean, Esq of Haremere
Hall, Susex.

The Macleans of Pennycross, island of Mull, represented by Alexander Maclean, Esq, derives
from John Dubh, the first of Maclean of Morvern. General Allan Maclean of Pennycross,
colonel of the 13th light dragoons, charged with them at Waterloo.

THERE
are various legends of the origin of the Clan Maclean—that its ancestor
was a hero of the days of Fergus II., that he was a brother of Fitzgerald,
the traditional progenitor of Clan Mackenzie, and that the race was one of
the tribes driven out of Moray by Malcolm IV. in the year 1161. As a
matter of fact, however, from its earliest days the Clan Maclean has been
associated with the island of Mull. Its progenitor is said to have been a
noted warrior who flourished early in the thirteenth century. The story
runs that one day, hunting on Ben Talla, he lost his way in a fog. Some
days later his companions found him in the last stage of exhaustion lying
beside his battle-axe, which he had stuck into the ground near a cranberry
bush to attract attention. From this he became known as Gilleain na
Tuaighe, the Lad of the Battle-Axe. With his redoubtable weapon this chief
played a distinguished part at the battle of Largs.

Among the notables set down
in the Ragman’s Roll, who did homage to Edward I. of England in 1296,
appears " Gilliemoire Mackilyn," otherwise Gilliemoire
MacGilleain or Gilmory Maclean. The son of this Gilmory, Eoin Dubh,
appears in charters of the time of David II. about 1330, as possessor of
lands in Mull. This Eoin Dubh, or John the Black, had two sons, Lachian
Lubanach and Hector Reaganach. The former of these was ancestor of the
Macleans of Duart, and the latter of the Maclaines of Lochbuie, and it has
been a matter of dispute which of the two was the elder son. The brothers
lived in the time of Robert II., and at first appear to have been
followers of MacDougall of Lorn. Some trouble having arisen, however, they
cast in their lot with Macdonald of the Isles. Lachlan Lubanach became
steward to the Lord of the Isles, married his daughter Mary in 1366, and
in 1390 received from him charters of Duart, Brolas, and other lands in
Mull. These charters brought the Macleans into collision with the
Mackinnons previously settled in the island, but, backed by the powerful
alliance with the great house of the Isles, the fortunes of the Macleans
never went back.

When Donald of the Isles marched across
Scotland in 1411 to enforce his wife’s claim to the great northern
earldom of Ross, the second-in-command of his army was his nephew, Lachlan
Lubanach’s son, Eachuin ruadh nan cath, Red Hector of the Battles. In
the great conflict at Harlaw in which the campaign ended, the Maclean
Chief engaged in a hand to hand encounter with Irvine of Drum, a powerful
Deeside baron. After a terrific combat the two fell dead together, and in
token of that circumstance, for centuries the chiefs of the two families
when they met were accustomed to exchange swords.

Meanwhile Red Hector’s cousin Charles,
son of Hector Reganach, settled in Glen Urquhart on Loch Ness, where he
founded Clann Tchearlaich of Glen Urquhart and Dochgarroch, otherwise
known as the "Macleans of the North," a sept which joined the
Clan Chattan confederacy about the year 1460. Besides these Macleans of
the North there were, before the end of that century, four powerful
families of the clan. Descended from Lachlan Lubanach were the Macleans of
Duart, the Macleans of Ardgour, and the Macleans of Coll, while descended
from Hector Reganach were the Maclames of Lochbuie.

The forfeiture of the last Lord of the
Isles, who died in 1493, seems to have affected the fortunes of the
Macleans very little. The event made them independent of the Macdonalds,
and at the battle of the Bloody Bay near Tobermory in 1484 the royal fleet
was led by the galley of Maclean of Ardgour. The battle went against him
and Ardgour was made prisoner, his life being spared only on the good-humoured
plea of Macdonald of Moidart that if he were slain there would be no one
left for the Moidart men to fight with.

Meanwhile the son of Hector of the Battles,
Lachlan Bromach of Duart, married Janet, daughter of Alexander Stewart,
Earl of Mar, leader of the royal army which opposed Donald of the Isles at
Harlaw, and which suffered defeat at the hands of Donald Balloch and the
Islesmen at Inverlochy. The earl was the natural son of the Earl of Buchan,
otherwise known as the Wolf of Badenoch, son of King Robert II., so that,
although under the baton sinister, the Macleans inherited the blood of the
Royal House of Stewart.

It was the grandson of this pair, Hector
Odhar Maclean of Duart, who led the clan at the battle of Flodden in 1513.
It is said he fell in an attempt to save the life of James IV. by throwing
his body between the king and the English bowmen.

The son of this hero remains notorious in
Island history for a very different act. For a second wife Lachlan
Cattenach Maclean had married Elizabeth, daughter of the second Earl of
Argyll. The marriage was not a success, and by way of getting rid of her
he exposed the lady on a tidal rock in the Sound of Mull, expecting that
nothing more would be heard of her. But, attracted by her shrieks, some
fishermen rescued her, and on Maclean making his way to Inveraray to
intimate his sad loss, he was to his horror confronted with his wife. The
incident has been made the subject of poems by Joanna Bailie, Thomas
Campbell, and Sir Walter Scott. Maclean fled to Edinburgh, but was
followed there and stabbed in bed by the brother of the injured lady, Sir
John Campbell of Cawdor. The event took place in the year 1523.

This chief’s younger son was that Alan
nan Sop, or Alan of the Wisp, whose story will be found in the account of
Clan MacQuarrie, who as a freebooter became notorious for his use of the
wisp in setting fire to the places he plundered, and who finally made
conquest of Torloisk in the west of Mull, and founded the family of the
Macleans of Torloisk.

Alan nan Sop’s elder brother, Hector Mor,
carried on the line of Duart. He married a daughter of Alexander Macdonald
of Islay, but this connection did not prevent differences arising between
the Macdonalds and Macleans, regarding which a bloody feud was carried on
between the years 1585 and 1598, "to the destruction of well near all
their country."

Hector Og, the son of Hector Mor, married
in 1557, the Lady Janet, daughter of Archibald, fourth Earl of Argyll, and
as the Campbells had for nearly three centuries been striving to supplant
the Macdonalds as the most powerful family in the West, it may be
understood that this alliance was not likely to discourage differences
between these Macdonalds and the Macleans.

Hector Og’s son, Sir Lachlan Mor Maclean
of Duart, was a gallant and distinguished chief. He married a daughter of
the sixth Earl of Glencairn, and in 1594 fought under his kinsman, the
young seventh Earl of Argyll, in the disastrous battle against Huntly and
Errol at Glenlivet. It was the policy of that Earl to sow strife among
neighbouring clans, and then avail himself of their differences and
weakened state for his own aggrandisement. In this way he incited the
MacNabs and Macgregors to attack their neighbours, then with letters of
fire and sword proceeded to seize their lands. Whether or not Argyll was
at the bottom of the strife, the feud between the Macleans and MacDonalds
came to a head in 1598. The immediate issue was the possession of certain
lands on Loch Gruinart in Islay. Before setting sail with a strong force
to seize these lands, it is said that Sir Lachlan consulted a famous witch
as to his prospects of success. The witch told him that he must not land
in Islay on a Thursday, and must not drink out of the Tobar Neill Neonaich,
Strange Neil’s Well. Unfortunately, being caught in a storm, he was
forced to land on just that day of the week, and being thirsty he drank
from a spring near the spot, which turned out to be just that well. The
tragic issue was helped by another act of Sir Lachlan Mor himself. Just
before the battle a dwarf from Jura offered his services to the Maclean
Chief and was scornfully rejected. Burning with indignation the dwarf,
Dubh-sith, offered his services to the opposite side, and received a
hearty welcome. In the battle which ensued, being unable to fight on equal
terms, the Dubh-sith climbed into a tree. Presently he saw, as Sir Lachlan
climbed a knoll, the joints of his armour open, and instantly letting fly
an arrow, he slew the chief. This battle of the Rhinns of Islay ended the
feud, as along with their chief the Macleans lost eighty gentlemen and two
hundred other clansmen.

Sir Lachlan’s elder son, still another
Hector Og, married a daughter of the eleventh chief of Kintail, and their
son Lachlan was the first baronet of Duart. By a second marriage, with a
daughter of Sir Archibald Acheson of Gosford, he had another son, Donald
of Brolas, whose son Lauchlan became M.P. for Argyllshire, and whose
descendants were to inherit the chiefship as sixth and successive
baronets.

Sir Lachlan Maclean was created a baronet
of Nova Scotia, with the designation "of Morvern," by Charles I.
in 1632, and from that time onward, through the Civil War and all the
troubles of the Stewarts, the Macleans remained strong and faithful
supporters of the Jacobite cause. Sir Lachlan himself joined the Marquess
of Montrose, led his clan at Inverlochy, where he helped to win that
signal victory over the Marquess of Argyll, and took part in the arduous
campaign and battles which followed.

Two years after his death, his son, Sir
Hector Maclean, fell fighting in the cause of Charles II. at Inverkeithing.
It was after the defeat of the army of the Covenant by Cromwell at Dunbar.
The Scottish forces fell back on Stirling, and to prevent them drawing
supplies from Fife, Cromwell sent a force of four thousand men under
General Lambert across the Forth at Queensferry. To encounter this force
the Scots sent Holborn of Menstrie with twelve hundred horse and fifteen
hundred infantry, and an encounter took place at Inverkeithing on Sunday,
20th July. At the beginning of the battle Holborn, who was both a coward
and a traitor, fled with his cavalry, and the little force of infantry
under Sir Hector Roy Maclean of Duart and Sir George Buchanan, chief of
his clan, were shortly hemmed round and cut to pieces. The English made a
continuous series of attacks on the spot where Sir Hector stood, severely
wounded but still encouraging his men. The clansmen who survived, flocked
round their chief, and again and again, as an attack was aimed at him,
another and another gentleman of the clan sprang in front of him with the
cry " Fear eil’ air son Eachuinn ! "—" Another for
Hector! " to be cut down in turn. When no fewer than eight gentlemen
of the name of Maclean had given their lives in this way Sir Hector
himself fell, covered with wounds. As the ballad has it:

Sir Hector Roy, the stout
Maclean,Fouflt one to ten, but all in
vainHis broad claymore unsheathing.Himself lay dead, ‘mid heaps
of slain,For Charles at
Inverkeithing.

It is from this incident that the clan
derives one of its slogans, "Another for Hector! " The
proceeding was used with telling effect by Sir Walter Scott as a feature
of the combat on the North Inch, in his romance, "The Fair Maid of
Perth."

Sir John Maclean, the fourth baronet, led
his clan under Viscount Dundee in the cause of the Stewarts at the battle
of Killiecrankie, and also, twenty-six years later, under the futile Earl
of Mar at the battle of Sheriffmuir.

His son, Sir Hector, the fifth baronet, was
arrested in Edinburgh in 1745, on suspicion of being in the French
service, and of enlisting men in the Jacobite Cause. He was confined in
the Tower of London for two years, till liberated by the Act of Grace in
1747. Meanwhile the clan was led throughout the campaign by Maclean of
Druimnin, and fought, five hundred strong, at Culloden, where at least one
of the mounded trenches among the heather may be seen at the present day
marked with the name "Maclean."

Sir Hector died unmarried at Rome in 1750,
and the chiefship, baronetcy, and estates then went to the great-grandson
of Donald Maclean of Brolas, half-brother of the first baronet. Sir Allan
died in 1783, also without male issue, and was succeeded in turn by two
grandsons of the second son of Donald of Brolas. The latter of these, Sir
Fitzroy Jeffreys Grafton Maclean, was colonel of the 45th regiment, and a
lieutenant-general, and was present at the capture of the West Indian
islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. His grandson is the present chief,
Sir Fitzroy Donald Maclean, Bait., K.C.B. Born in 1835 Sir Fitzroy served,
as a young man, in Bulgaria and the Crimea, and was present at the battle
of the Alma and the siege of Sebastopol. Through lack of food and shelter
he fell into dysentery and fever, and would have died had he not been
discovered by a friend of his father, who carried him on board his ship.
He lost a son in the South African War. One of the most memorable days of
his life was when he returned to Mull in August, 1912, and took possession
of the ancient seat of his family, Duart Castle, amid the acclamations of
Maclean clansmen from all parts of the world, and unfurled his banner from
the ramparts. The castle dates from the thirteenth century, and was
repaired and enlarged by Hector Mor Maclean, who was Lord of Duart from
1523 till 1568. In 1691 it was besieged by Argyll, and Sir John Maclean,
the chief of that time, was forced to surrender it. After that date,
though occasionally occupied by troops, the stronghold gradually fell to
ruins, and the Duart properties passed to other hands till Sir Fitzroy
repurchased Duart itself in 1912.

Duart
Castle overlooking the Sound of Mull was built in the 13th century and given to Lachlan
Maclean after he married Mary MacDonald, daughter of the Lord of the Isles, along with
other lands in Mull. Today the 27th clan chief, Lord Maclean, a life peer, Lord
Chamberlain to Her Majesty's Household, and, from 1959 to 1975, Chief Scout of the
Commonwealth, still resides there. His grandfather, Sir Fitzroy Maclean, who lived to be
101 years old, bought back and restored the ancient ruins in 1912.

The Macleans of Duart had held the earlier office of
Chamberlain to the Lord of the Isles, a title which was confirmed by the crown in 1495
even after the Lordship was abolished. The clan Maclean's extensive lands included the
islands of Mull, Tiree, Coll and Islay, as well as mainland Morvern and Lochaber. As the
clan expanded, it split into a number of different branches, including the Macleans of
Coll and the Macleans of Ardgour.

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